Leafs clinch playoff berth with win over Penguins
TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs are going back to the playoffs.
Connor Brown scored the go-ahead goal with less than three minutes left in regulation as the Leafs clinched their first playoff berth since 2013 with a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Kasperi Kapanen and Auston Matthews also scored for the Leafs and Curtis McElhinney stepped in for an injured Frederik Andersen with 12 saves.
The Leafs will play the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs if they pick up at least a point in their season finale against Columbus today.
If the Leafs don’t get a point, they would face the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals.
Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel scored for Pittsburgh, which sat a number of regulars in advance of the post-season. Marc-Andre Fleury gave up four goals on 30 shots.
It’s quite the turnaround for Toronto, both from last season and from the time of the last playoff berth four years earlier.
At about this time last year, the club was wrapping up 30th place in the NHL which helped them land the best odds to pick Matthews first overall at the 2016 draft. Matthews became the first player in history to score four goals in his NHL debut — his rapid emergence, alongside a historic class of rookies, central to the Leafs leap up the standings.
Beyond that, the Leafs had Andersen deliver in his first year as a starter and others like Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner and Bozak enjoying career years.
Kadri, Gardiner, Bozak, Riemsdyk and Leo Komarov are the only remaining members of the Leafs last playoff team in 2013. The organization has been overhauled since with Brendan Shanahan taking over as president, Mike Babcock as head coach and Lou Lamoriello as general manager.
The roster has been turned over almost entirely too with the club also sporting a new logo and uniforms this season.